-- Week nights on pbs.
John: It's been five years since
hundreds of thousands of
rohingya were driven out of
Myanmar, fleeing the brutality
of government security forces.
Most went to camps in
neighboring Bangladesh.
Now a growing number of them
, have been setting out to open
sea, in hopes of getting to
Malaysia or Indonesia, where
they believe they can live more
freely.
The united nations estimates the
number of rohingya making that
desperate journey went up
fivefold last year.
At least 348 people died or went
missing attempting the trip,
making it one of the deadliest
years for rohingya refugees
since 2014.
>> They spent weeks adrift in a
rickety wooden boat, coming
adrift in the most northern
province.
Hundreds of refugees have made
landfall in Indonesia.
Many of them needing medical
attention.
>> After five days, our boat
began breaking down and we had
no food or water.
>> She arrived last month.
>> Five men jumped because they
could not handle the hunger.
After 12 days, water came into
the boat and more people jumped
because they feared the boat was
sinking through the ocean.
We could not do anything.
>> Mohammed fled from Myanmar to
Bangladesh.
He left his family in an
overcrowded Bangladeshi refugee
camp after getting death threats
over his job as a teacher.
>> They eluded us -- they looted
us and took everything.
>> In 2017, 7 100,000 were
forced -- 700,000 or forced
and Myanmar.
Many of them are languishing in
Bangladesh.
They live in crowded camps,
intended only to be temporary.
Like most, he would like to go
back to his homeland but fear is
what would await him.
>> We try to go to our
motherland.
We are -- we do not have a
place.
>> Phil is the deputy director
of human rights watch.
>> These people want to go home
but they want to return in
dignity, with rights, they want
their land back and be
protected.
There has to be a recognition
that these people are going to
continue to come out until there
is a solution for the problems
that exist in Myanmar and
Bangladesh.
>> The Indonesian government
called for a regional effort to
address the crisis of refugees
stranded at sea.
Earlier I spoke with poppy
Mcpherson, a reuters
correspondent based in Bangkok
, she has covered the rohingya
crisis for nearly a decade.
I asked her why more people are
making this dangerous journey
now.
>> The situation in Myanmar,
where they are from and the
refugee camps have deteriorated
in the past couple of years.
I have not heard people be so
despondent and so hopeless
because of the length of time.
People did not think they would
be stuck in these camps for so
long.
Also, because of the increased
restrictions that the Bangladesh
authorities are putting on the
camps.
People feel like their lives are
shrinking, there is no work, no
opportunities for education in
the camps, young people, the
option that seems available to
them is really to get out.
The other thing we have seen is
a rise in violence and security
issues in the camps.
Abductions, killings, some of
which seem to be linked to the
drug trade.
>> The new restrictions, does
this reflect the Bangladeshi
attitude towards refugees?
>> In the beginning there was a
huge outpouring of support and
sympathy for them, many
Bangladeshis really welcomed
people.
Now it has been five years and
there is no sign that they will
be going back to Myanmar as the
conditions have not improved.
Bangladesh is also under some
pressure domestically.
The community has started to
turn against the group.
It has become a political issue
inside of England -- -- side of
Bangladesh.
>> What are the attitudes toward
them in Indonesia and Malaysia?
>> The lives of the people
living in rohingya or better,
better than in Bangladesh or
Myanmar where they face
persecution and violence.
They are taking and much more
hostile and toward -- attitude
towards refugees.
There are in distress and they
are the only community that has
been doing that.
The other estates in the region
have not -- the conditions are
better, they may be able to find
work if they are lucky but they
may also face persecution as
well.
Neither Tunisia -- neither in
Bangladesh or Indonesia are
refugees recognized as refugees.
>> Is there any aspect of human
trafficking in this?
>> Some say they have been
forced to get on the boat, they
were forced on board.
Women and girls on the boat,
some of them are going for
marriage in Malaysia and not
sure how voluntary all of that
is.
>> You say conditions in Myanmar
are notimproving.
Could there be a point in time
where it could improve to where
they can return safely?
>> The military drove out the
refugees and they are in control
of the country.
The military regard them with
deep-seated racism and they
regard them as foreigners who do
not deserve to be living in
Myanmar.
Reversing the policy is slim.
>> Is there any place for them
to go?
>> There is nowhere for them to
go.
It is a situation of
desperation, they are people who
nobody seems to want.
Myanmar has rejected them,
Bangladesh is rejecting them,
that is a life nobody would
want.
A life of an opportunity,
confinement.
Taking to the sea in these
dangerous wages is the best of
many bad options -- dangerous
waves is the best of many bad
options.
>> Thank you.